Fantasy Football Preview, Week 4: Rankings and Sleepers

25 Sep 2014

Week 3 in the NFL saw little of the off-field controversy of the previous weeks.

Instead, football fans were treated to some fantastic on-field performances from unexpected players: filling in for the injured Robert Griffin III, Kirk Cousins delivered a monstrous performance, throwing for 427 yards and 3 touchdowns; Julio Jones torched the Buccaneers for 161 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns; running back Rashad Jennings continued his dominant play with 176 rushing yards and a touchdown; and Jeremy Maclin definitively proved his ACL tear from last season is no longer an issue, catching 8 of 10 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.

For those of you who read last week’s Fantasy Football Preview, you’re welcome. If you were able to plug Knile Davis into your lineup, he paid dividends, rushing 32 times for 132 yards and a touchdown in Kansas City’s win over Miami. Tight end Travis Kelce also played well, catching 3 of 4 passes for 36 yards and a touchdown. Sorry about that New England defense, although the Patriots still managed to hold onto the win against a downright awful Oakland Raiders offense.

This week’s slate of games kicks off with tonight’s matchup between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

Here are this week’s player rankings, along with some players due for a breakout game that could help put your team over the top.

1. Khiry Robinson, RB, NO (@DAL) — Even before Mark Ingram got injured, Robinson was stealing some snaps from starting running back Pierre Thomas. Now that Ingram’s gone, expect the Saints to use Robinson even more. Dallas has a stingy run defense, but Robinson out-carried Thomas by 18-8 last week. He should get similar volume against Dallas on Sunday night.

2. Keenan Allen, WR, SD (vs. JAX) — Allen faced three relatively tough defenses in Arizona, Seattle, and Buffalo to start the season, but Jacksonville’s defense is ranked in the bottom ten against the pass, so Allen could finally find some relief in Week 4. San Diego faces the Jets in Week 5 and Oakland in Week 6, so Allen should return to WR 1/2 territory over the next few weeks.